While other players were prepping for this season at spring training Gerald McCoy Jersey , Jose Bautista was on his own.

A six-time All-Star without a big league job, Bautista remained eager to catch on somewhere and knew he needed to be resourceful. So to stay in game shape, the 37-year-old slugger spent his days back home in Florida hopping from gym workouts to local ballfields.

Sometimes he ended up at the University of Tampa, or Tampa Catholic High School. Wherever he could find an empty diamond to hit and do defensive drills.

”I was trying to mimic somewhat the same program,” said Bautista, who has quickly become a rare bright spot for the New York Mets this year. ”I mean, it wasn’t the easiest thing.”

His agent helped him scrounge up batting-practice pitchers to simulate game situations as best they could. High school kids, college players, other free agents looking for work.

Bautista figures he got about 30 ”at-bats” or so in April, when the regular season was already underway for everyone else. All the while, the former Toronto Blue Jays star waited for a new opportunity.

”Yeah, different fields. Whatever was available and whatever people could get to,” he said.

Not exactly an ideal way to sharpen up for Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw. But after struggling through a 12-game stint with the Atlanta Braves in May, mostly at third base, Joey Bats has hardly missed a beat since arriving in New York. He had a .944 OPS over 35 games going into Sunday and had already batted in every spot for the Mets besides ninth.

”He never backed off,” teammate and close friend Jose Reyes said last week. ”He always was working.”

Next up, a nice reward.

On deck this week is the first trip for Bautista back to Toronto, where he blossomed into one of baseball’s best power hitters with the Blue Jays from 2008-17. The struggling Mets play interleague games at Rogers Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Needless to say Andrew Adams Jersey , he’s excited.

”I’m trying not to think about it,” Bautista said last week. ”I’m trying not to dwell on it too much.”

”Obviously, I played there for 10 years. I consider it one of my homes away from home,” he added. ”I’m just going to let it come and enjoy it when it gets here.”

Reyes, also Bautista’s teammate in Toronto from 2013-15, said last week the outfielder had been staying at his house in New York for the past few days and the two talked about the upcoming games in Toronto.

Reyes figures the Blue Jays might have a video tribute planned, but he’s sure Bautista will receive a standing ovation after helping the team end a 22-year playoff drought and reach consecutive AL Championship Series in 2015 and 2016.

Bautista, still sporting a neatly trimmed beard, acknowledged he anticipates a warm reception.

”I don’t expect anything else from Canadian fans. They’re top-notch, a class act,” he said. ”We had a pretty good run there and I had a successful career in my years there. … I did enjoy my time in Toronto greatly and it’s going to be great to be back.”

Bautista hit 54 home runs for the Blue Jays in 2010 and led the majors again with 43 the following season. He finished in the top four in AL MVP voting both years.

And of course, who could ever forget his gigantic bat flip after connecting for a decisive homer in the 2015 playoffs against Texas?

As he approached free agency, Bautista’s numbers dropped off in 2016. Toronto brought him back on a one-year contract for $18 million last season, but he slumped to a .203 batting average with 23 homers, 65 RBIs and 170 strikeouts, and the Blue Jays moved on.

”As a player, we understand that this is a business,” Reyes said. ”He wanted to stay there Eli Manning Jersey , but I don’t know. When you build that fan base and the people love you and stuff and you (are) successful in one place, you don’t want to go someplace else. But it comes a time in baseball. It just happens. Yeah, he understands that.”

Two days after he was released by Atlanta, the Mets signed Bautista on May 22 for the $545,000 major league minimum to provide a right-handed bat in the outfield following injuries to Yoenis Cespedes and Juan Lagares.

Bautista stepped off a plane and right into the starting lineup, hitting a double in his first at-bat, just as he did with the Braves. This time, though, he hasn’t stopped producing even though everything around him keeps falling apart.

With the help of 24 walks in 105 plate appearances, Bautista began Sunday with a .438 on-base percentage for the last-place Mets. He’d reached base safely in 15 straight games and even played some solid defense.

”It’s definitely impressive and we are in awe of him,” 25-year-old outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. ”He’s a great veteran presence. He’s got a lot of wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the game. … I think just that preparation, that work ethic and that eagle eye he’s got, it’s been a great combination.”

Now playing every day in a familiar corner outfield spot after right fielder Jay Bruce went on the disabled list, too, Bautista began Sunday hitting .266 for the Mets with three homers, 10 doubles and 13 RBIs.

”A dangerous wild card,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before a game against New York last week. ”A man that wanted to play Kelechi Osemele Jersey , felt he could play and was going to do what it took necessary to put himself in a position to play. He stayed active, he stayed ready, his agent reached out to every club. I mean, we got a call. That hey, The Toronto Maple Leafs won this one for their city.

Frederik Andersen stopped 32 shots to lead the Maple Leafs to a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Monday night, forcing a decisive Game 7 in the first-round series.

The victory came hours after 10 people were killed when a van drove onto a sidewalk in Toronto’s north end and struck multiple pedestrians. Most of the players woke from their pregame naps to learn of the incident at 1:30 p.m. that also injured 15 people.

”We’re sending all our love,” said Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, who scored the tiebreaking goal and added an assist. ”This is a big win for us after an emotional day.”

There was a moment of silence for the victims and their families prior the opening faceoff at Air Canada Centre.

”Very tragic event,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said.

William Nylander and Tomas Plekanec also scored for Toronto. Nikita Zaitsev added two assists, and Plekanec also had one. The Maple Leafs, who trailed the series 3-1 before winning two straight, were behind 1-0 early in the second period of this one.

Jake DeBrusk scored for the Bruins, and Tuukka Rask – pulled in Game 5 at home, finished with 27 saves.

Game 7 is Wednesday night in Boston with the winner advancing to face Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference semifinals..

Scoreless after an end-to-end first period, the Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead 1:02 into the second when David Krejci won a faceoff after an icing against Auston Matthews right to DeBrusk, beat Andersen between his arm and body.

Toronto responded just 35 seconds later when Nylander buried a rebound of Jake Gardiner shot from the point for his first goal of the playoffs.

The Leafs appeared to go ahead at 3:04 when Zach Hyman beat Rask with a no-look backhand as he fell to the ice. The Bruins challenged the play for goalie interference, and replays showed the forward knocked the stick out of Rask’s hands as he cruised through the crease just before scoring.

Boston appeared to control the play after that as Toronto could barely get out of its own zone or complete a clean breakout. Andersen – who recorded 42 stops in a 4-3 victory in Game 5 on Saturday – made great saves off Rick Nash, Marchand and Patrice Bergeron to keep things even.

”Just enjoying the moment Lance Alworth Jersey ,” Andersen said of the turnaround in his play. ”Being in a do-or-die position, I think we all embrace that as a team.”

The Maple Leafs, however, wend ahead with 6:35 left in the period when Marner was quickest to a loose puck in the slot and beat Rask with a backhand to the far post after Marchand couldn’t clear.

Toronto killed off its first penalty early in the third, and was then left fuming when David Backes elbowed Andersen in the mask, but was only assessed an offsetting roughing minor when Roman Polak came to his goalie’s defence.

The Leafs couldn’t connect on their third power play moments later, and Andersen stoned Sean Kuraly with under 10 minutes to go.

Rask then robbed Nylander off a great feed from Auston Matthews.

The Bruins went back to the power play with under six minutes left, but the best chance came when Rask stopped Kasperi Kapanen on a 2-on-1 that turned into a breakaway before stoning Krejci on a one-time shot that brought the towel-waving crowd to its feet.

Rask followed that up by stopping Matthews on another 2-on-1 off a pass from Plekanec before Plekanec sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:14 to play.

”Give them credit, they protected their house,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.

Both goalies were on their game in the first as the clubs combined for 27 shots on goal, including 17 from Boston.

Andersen made a nice stop on Nash less than two minutes in after a Maple Leafs turnover before Rask, who allowed four goals on 13 shots before getting pulled in Game 5, fought off Zaitsev’s point shot.

Marchand came close when his shot off another turnover struck the inside of Andersen’s pad and bounced out the other side.

Rask held the fort on the game’s first power play, and Andersen followed up with his second incredible stick save of the series when he swatted a Backes attempt from in tight with Nash lurking.

NOTES: The Maple Leafs fell behind the Bruins 3-1 the last time the clubs met in the playoffs back in 2013 before tying the series 3-3 with back-to-back 2-1 victories. Toronto then became the first team in NHL history to blow a three-goal lead in the third period of a Game 7 as the Bruins stormed back from a 4-1 deficit and won 5-4 in overtime. … Coming into these playoffs, teams that take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series hold an all-time record of 270-28 – good for a success rate of 90.6 per cent. … The Maple Leafs have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series 15 times, with their only victory coming in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final when they stormed back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings.

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